LinkedIn Re-Adds Quick Profile Insights to Desktop News Feed

After their recent desktop re-design, many LinkedIn users were dismayed at the removal of several features. The re-design was more aligned to the mobile version of the app, which makes sense given the majority of LinkedIn’s traffic comes via mobile, but in that, several desktop functionalities got shuffled out, and LinkedIn has since been working to add them back in.

Among the features which have been re-added are:

• Saved Searches – Members were furious that saved searches had been removed, along with several other search filters which have been shifted to the more expensive paid tiers. LinkedIn re-added saved searches back in February.
• Expanded Profiles – LinkedIn compressed the profile view option as part of the desktop change, but re-introduced the expanded profile view in April
• Sort by Recency – If you haven’t noticed (and you almost definitely have), your LinkedIn feed now has a greater reliance on their algorithm to uncover the stories of most relevance to you. Don’t like it? LinkedIn re-added the ability to sort your feed in chronological order back in April.

Now LinkedIn’s looking to bring back another, smaller, yet helpful feature – the ability to get more information about a user by hovering over their name in the desktop feed.

You may or may not have noticed, but LinkedIn also removed this option, which was annoying, especially when similar hover functionality exists on other platforms. Now, LinkedIn’s bringing it back – they’re rolling it out now so you may not have it, but should soon.

This comes in addition to the various other profile updates and tools LinkedIn has added of late, including an in-built profile image camera, native video, pictures in comments and new ‘Profile Views’ data points, including the keywords people used to find your profile.

Most of these additions are relatively small in isolation, but together, they formulate a much more effective LinkedIn process.

In addition, LinkedIn’s partnership with Microsoft is also starting to show results, with a new LinkedIn app for Windows 10.

As per LinkedIn:

“The LinkedIn app for Windows 10 makes it easier than ever to connect to opportunity, work smarter, and tap into your professional potential. It is easily accessible from your Start menu and taskbar, and you can also pin a Live Tile so that when you click on Start, you never miss important highlights from your connections.”

As LinkedIn works to expand its use case and better utilize its data capacity, facilitated by its Microsoft partnership, they’ll no doubt continue to add in new tools and features – though it’ll be interesting to see whether they start to move more towards paid tools or Microsoft exclusives in future.